Removable bead cap



Feb. 10. 1925.

W. P. WHITE REMOVABLE BEAD.CAP

Filed Jan. 6, 1921 v 'vwemtoz William 1? 5% #6 IIIIIIIIIIIII III IIIPatented Feb. 1925.

UNITED STATES 1,525,484 PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM I. WHITE, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A SSIG-NORY TO ANCHOR CAP ANDCLOSURE CORPORATION, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF 'NEW YORK.

REMOVABLE IBEAD CAP.-

Application filed January 6, 1921. Serial No. 435,315.

T 0 all whom it may (once/m;

Be it known that I, VILLIAM P. l/VHLTE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and.

useful Improvements in Removable Bead Caps, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates broadly to sealing caps and more specially to acap adapted for forming hermetic seals.

The principal object of the present invention is a cap of the side sealtype provided with a bead adapted for removal when the package isopened; 7

Another and important object of the present invention is a cap of theside seal type adapted for sealing with relatively low pressure andforming a lock adapted to withstand internal pressure within thepackage.

A still further object of the present invention is a cap of the sideseal type wherein a bead is provided of material separate from the coverportion and with the ends of the bead formed with looking members.adapted to lock the bead in contracted position when the seal isformed.

A still further object of the present in-' vention is a cap of the sideseal type with the cover portion and bead being separately formed andwith a portion of the bead being adapted to slide over a portion of thecover during sealing operation and means being provided to lock the beadin contracted relation when the sealing operation is completed.

Another and important object of the present invention is a cap of the.Side S al type provided with a gasket carrying bead formed of a piece ofmaterial separate from the cover portion and arranged in such mannerthat when the seal is formed a part of the head slides over a part ofthe cover por-f tion and compresses the gasket against the -mic wall ofa suitable container.

h'lore specifically, one feature of the pres-.

out invention comprises a cap of the side seal type with a. removablebead adapted to 'ent invention and wherein the closure is invention willin part be obvious and will in part be pointed out hereinafter in thespecification following by reference to the accompanying drawingswherein likeparts are represented'by like characters throughout theseveral figures thereof. 7

It is realized that the present invention may be embodied inconstructions other than those specifically shown herewith so therefOI'BtllG present disclosure is to be understood as illustrative and not inthe limiting sense. v

Figure 1 is a sectional view illustrating a package embodying one formof the pressealed on the container;

Figure 2 is a detail crossrsectional view of a portion of the containerwall and 0f the bead of the closure before the seal is made;

Figure '3 is a view similar to Figure 2 illustrating the completed sealand showing the direction of operation of the sealing forces;

Figure 4 1s a perspective view illustrating a cap disassembled withoutthe asket;

differenttype of'an- -Hull No. 795,283, July 25, 1905. In caps of thischaracter which are manufactured by billions'and used in correspondingnumbers, it is of extreme importance that the cap-be of such design asto conserve materials-as much as possible. A very small amount ofmaterial saved on an individual cap, at the end of the year, amounts toan enormous saving in the manufacture of the caps. Furthermore, thesaving in sealing pressures also pyramids, and if a small s'aving ismade on each individual seal it means a large saving of power at the endof the ear. .In the prior art referred to the sealing operation tookplace by vertical compression of parts in such manner as to causelateral compression of a suitable gasket, thereby forming a side seal.The parts were constructed in such manner that the diameter of the metalportions of the cap were at all times larger than the mouth of thevessel over which the cap fits. In such cases, if the sealing machinewere not sufliciently powerful, or if for any other reason the gasketwas not forced under the shoulder provided on the neck of the vessel,the cap lacked locking facilities to resist being blown off by internalpressure. Furthermore, the caps of the prior art, having removablebeads, relied upon the resilience of the bead itself to hold it. inposition on the cap. It is to be understood that the present type ofcaps are distinct from what are known in the art as band caps, wherein alocking hand without a gasket is fitted over a rib or collar on the jaror bottle and is locked in position by means of a slot and tongue. Suchcaps are top seal caps and not side seal caps and the parts requireapplication by hand and are not well adaptable to machine application.

The present invention overcomes the difficulties of the known art byproviding a side seal cap wherein the cover portion of the cap and thehead are formed of separate pieces of material. Preferably the head isan open ring, having overlapping ends which are adapted to telescopeslightly when the cap is sealed. In order to insure the parts remainingin sealed relation, suitable locking tongues are provided in thetelescoping portions of the bead and preferably these tongues areassociated with notches in such manner that the relation of the tonguesand the notches are progressive so that small amounts'of contraction aresufficient to catch at least one of the tongues in its respective notch,thereby holding the head in suitable contracted form. The upper edge ofthe bead and the outer flange of the skirt of the cover of the cap areadapted also to telescope radially during the sealing operation so thatthe under edge of the bead moves radially inward. The size of the cap issuch that where the cap is used in connection with a shoulderedreceptacle the under edge or flange is of sufiicient size to easily dropover the shoulder and when thesealing operation is eo1npleted. the underedge of the bead is radially moved inward to 'such a degree that it isbeneath the shoulder on the vessel, thereby providing a definite lockwhich effectively prevents the cap from being blown off by internalpressure. During the sealing operation the gasket is automaticallyforced into intimate association with the lower portion of the skirt ofthe cap and also with the side sealing face of the vessel, whereby apositive hermetic seal is provided of sufficient stability and securityto insure prevention of leakage ofgases either into or out of the sealedreceptacle so that the re ceptacle may be sealed under a vacuum or underinternal pressure. The seal may be made by various types of sealingmecha nism of which the patent to Townsend No. 1,154,352 September 21,1915, is an example. In this form of sealing device an anvil rests onthe top of the bead and segmental jaws swing inwardly to compress thebead radially and then the jaws are moved toward the anvil whereby thebead is compressed laterally, thereby the tongues and slots act to lookall parts effectively in compressed position.

Referring now to the drawings, which more or less diagrammaticallyillustrate a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a container1 which may be of glass or other suitable substance capable ofsustaining pressure necessary for side seals, is

preferably provided adjacent the mouth thereof with a sealing zone 2which may be formed with a shoulder 3 adjacent the lower edge of thesealing zone. In view of the fact that the present seal is a side seal,the upper portion 5 of the sealing zone may be rounded, therebyobviating special finishes, etc., which tend to render the package moreliable to fracture and which increases the cost of manufacture.

The closure member adapted to cooperate with the container 1 preferablycomprises a lid having a cover portion 6 adapted to rest on the end ofthe package and prefably is provided with a short depending skirt 7adjacent which is an outstanding annular flange 8. A separate membercomprising a hollow channel annular bead cooperates with the'flange 8 toform a retaining space for a suitable gasket 9. This annular beadpreferably is formed with overlapping ends 10 and 11 (Figs. 5 and (3)and is provided with an upper flange 12. a side wall 14, and a lowerflange 15. The upper flange 1.2 is adapted to have a radial telescopicmovement over the flange 8 on the cover and the width of flanges 8 and12 are such that when the parts are compressed to form the seal theseflanges do not quite reach their maximum possible travel. The lowerflangelf) is longer than the upper flange 12 and before the cap issealed it terminates substantially adjacent the inner edge of the gasket9. The ends ll) and 11 of the annular head are provided with anchoringmeans which may take the form of tongues 16 in one wall and slots 17 inthe other wall, as shown in Figure 5, or this anchoring means maycomprise. tongues 18 (Fig. 7) in one end of the flange 12 and openings19 in the adjacent and overlapping end of the flange 12, or the tonguesand slots or other anchoring means may he provided in the lower flange15.

Preferably where the tongue and slot construction is used as isillustrated in Figures and 7, the tongues are arranged in series havinga spacing dimension slightly different from the spacing interval of theslots so that when the bead is compressed during sealing, therebycausing a telescopic movement of the ends thereof, the tongues willprogressively come into engagement with the slots, thereby catching andholding any small movement of the telescoping action. As illustrated inFigure 3, the seal of this cap preferably is.formed by compressing thebead both radially (arrow A) and laterally (arrows B to C) so that wherethe bead is in the form of a rectangular channel the compression takesplace on three sides thereof. This forces the gasket tightly against thesealing surface and where this surface is provided with a shoulder asillustratedin Figure 3 a portion of the gasket material may tend to flowunder the shoulder and the lower flange will be pushed radially inwardlyso that it lies beneath the shoulder. This provides a very securelocking of the closure in position on the container to enable the sealedpackage to withstand considerable internal pressure without the capbeing blown off. This is particularly desirable where the packages areto be heat treated or processed as is required for many food packages.

Another important feature of the present invention is the saving inmaterial which is effected by the construction shown. In side seal capshaving beads formed integral with the cover portion it is necessary thatthe diameter of the flat blank of material from whichthe cap is, formedmust be of a diameter sufficient to form the cap and. the head. In thepresent case the size of the flange forming the cover part is only of adiameter sufficient to form the cover, the skirt, and the flange 8, andthe flange from which thebead is formed is cut from a flat strip ofmaterial so that there is no loss of material between adjacent flangeblanks. In view of the above facts thecap comprising the presentinvention effectsa saving in material since where a large circularflange is used a larger area of scrap is formed between the blanks andall portions of the blank which subsequently are formed into walls atright angles to the surface of the original blank necessarily arecontracted upon themselves by the difference between the diameter of thecylindrical wall and the diameter of the outer edge of the circularblank from which the wall is formed. It has been found in practice thatin the aggregate the difference in material between a cap in accordancewith the present invention and a cap wherein the same shape is made froma single blank is a great-.isaving in material. Furthermore the caps, ofthe prior art, of this side seal type having beads integral with thecovers have been very hard.

to remove when sealed, whereas the present cap may be removed byreleasing the locking tongues and slots when the bead may be pulled awayand the'cover freed. Having thus described my invention, what I claimis:

1. An article of manufacture comprising a closure cap having a coverportion, a separate flanged bead adapted to extend over the edge of saidcover portion and being capable of telescoping radial movementsrelatively to said cover portion, with the ends of said head beingoverlapping whereby said ends telescope circumferentially when saidbeads and said cover portion are telescoped radially. and a plurality ofmeans to lock the ends of said head in telescoped relation when thesealing is completed said means being differentially spaced to establisha looking interval which is less than the spacing of the means.

2. As an article of manufacture a closure cap comprising a coverportion, 2, depending skirt an annular flange extending outwardly atright angles from said skirt, a detachable channel bead enclosing aportion of said flange and being adapted to be radially telescoped withreference thereto, a gasket within said bead, said bead comprising anopen ring with overlapping ends, and looking means on the ends .of saidbead to hold said bead when said gasket is compressed to form a sealsaid locking means comprising tongues on one end of the bead anddifferently spaced slots on the other end of the bead.

3. As an article of manufacture; a closure for rigid wall vessel or thelike comprising in combination a cover portion; an outwardly extendingannular flange on said cover portion; an annular bead adapted to.enclose said flange and a suitable gasket, said bead having its endstelescoped one within the other, one end having a series of spaced slotsand the other a series of tongues adapted to engage said slots, thespacing of said slots whereby when the bead is constrictedcircumferentially it is locked in the condition of least circumferencewithin a said tongues being unequal to the spacing of for a rigid walledvessel or the like; compris ing in combination a cover portion; anoutwardly extending annular flange on said cover portion; an annularbead adapted to enclose said flange and a suitable gasket, said beadhaving its ends telescoped one withinthe other, one end having a seriesof changes in contour and the other end having a series of raisedportions adapted to'coact with said contour changes the spacing of saidcontour changes being unequal to the spacing of said raised portionswhereby when the head is constricted circumferentially it is locked inthe condition of leastcircumference within a limit which is less thanthe spacing of either the raised portions or the changes in contour.

6. As an article of manufacture a closure for rigid Walled vessels orthe like comprising in combination; a cover portion; an annular coverflange extending outwardly from said cover portion; an annular beadhaving ends and comprising. a flan e movable telescopically with respectto sald cover flange; an annular gasket within said head, the radialwidth of said gasket when uncompressed being greater than the radialwidth of the cover flange; and a plurality of successively operativelocking means on the ends of said flange to hold the flange intelescoped relation and the gasket compressed when the closure isapplied to a vessel to be closed.

WILLIAM P. WHITE.

